Pope Francis experienced two new episodes of acute respiratory crises and was placed back on noninvasive mechanical ventilation, according to the Vatican.
During the overnight events, Francis encountered difficulties due to a significant accumulation of mucus in his lungs, leading to bronchial spasms. The Vatican disclosed that two bronchoscopies were carried out to address the issue, requiring the removal of substantial secretions.
Paglia emphasized the need for individuals like Pope Francis, describing him as a figure who embodies universality rather than one-sidedness. Paglia’s comments were made following a press conference launching the annual gathering of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Vatican’s bioethics institution, which is focusing on the theme “The End of the World?” this year.
Francis wrote a message to the assembly, dated February 26, in which he lamented that international organisations are increasingly ineffective to combat the threats facing the world and are being undermined by “short-sighted attitudes concerned with protecting particular and national interests.”
It’s a theme he has articulated before. Francis also has repeatedly called for peace between Russia and Ukraine while trying to maintain the Vatican’s traditional diplomatic neutrality, and has tried to achieve a similar balancing act for Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
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Even a Vatican ambassador not especially close to Francis, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, said the faithful needed to hear his voice at a time when war is raging in Europe. Gaenswein was Pope Benedict XVI’s longtime secretary, and Francis exiled him to be the Vatican ambassador in the Baltics after he published a memoir in 2023 that was critical of Francis.
“Pope Francis’ voice is of vital importance for all the world because he’s the only authority who speaks of peace, who condemns war, all the wars under way starting with Ukraine,” La Repubblica quoted Gaenswein as saying.
Francis’ 17-night hospitalisation is by no means reaching the papal record that was set during St John Paul II’s numerous lengthy hospitalisations over a quarter century.
